A superb Paris porcelain plate. It probably bear's the crest of HALL of LITTLEBECK, WESTMORELAND. Blazon:"On a wreath the battlements of a tower,thereon a cock entwined by a snake, all proper" Sir John Hall KCB, Legion D'Honneur (1795-1866) was a soldier who saw the last actions of Waterloo. After a long career on many fronts he received the posting of CHIEF INSPECTOR of HOSPITALS during the Crimean War. It was there he famously came into conflict with FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE and was her chief protagonist. Nightingale remarking on the KCB award, said is must stand for the "Knight of the Crimean Burial grounds". He called her "petticoat imperieuse". On the use of Chloroform anaesthetic hall's comments were " however barbarous it may appear, the smart of the knife is a powerful stimulant, and it is much better to hear a man bawl lustily than to see him sink silently into the grave". After his retirement he was knighted. As an officer in the army he was obliged under war office rules to stay in a country no more than two years. In the late 50's early 60's the family was in Paris. Hall's letters are kept within the Wellcome Library. See Bonhams, Lot 26. 26th June 2007. Perfect condition, minute wear, measures 9.5 Inches wide.